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Aldorae Starseeker
A Time of Peace Early Life Born into a lower caste and destined to take the name "Kaldorei", Aldorae began life as many would expect... She was born to a mother and father that loved her, their only wish that she be happy, of course. Aldorae spent most of her childhood going from one thing to the next as most children do. Aldorae made friends of the children who lived closest to her with her family making ends meet as they had to. Aldorae's mother was a devout woman but strong of will and taught Aldorae to always defend those that she loves. Her father was a proud man and taught Aldorae that the only will you can rely on is your own; to never hesitate to help someone who needed it as it was likely that others would not. Aldorae passed these lessons on to her kid brother as they grew up together in the countryside of Suramar, Aldorae being a few decades his senior. In time her brother matured into a man of unerring will and endless compassion; she a woman of unbridled inner strength and unwavering self actualization. During this time Aldorae discovered that she had a talent for the Arcane, something not entirely uncommon among her people, but a power that was the prominent skill in higher Kaldorei society and not one often seen in lower castes. Her brother held no such talents for the arcane however, no matter how much Aldorae tried to instruct him. In the absence of magical prowess he favored martial talents and, in most ways aside from age, took upon the mantle of a big brother to the bookish and magical sister of his. In Pursuit of Higher Learning Aldorae, truthfully, was fine with the shift of familial power as she began to take the advice and warnings of her mother concerning the Arcane. Aldorae's Mother never enjoyed seeing her daughter seduced by such immensely powerful energies and endeavored to instill in her daughter a sense of caution regarding powers more dangerous than any one person. It is then that Aldorae began to join her mother in the worship of Elune which also seemed to sate her appetite for knowledge for a short while. The theology, the rites, the tenets of Elune, the proclamations of the Great Mother, and so on, they all interested Aldorae and she briefly considered joining the Sisterhood to learn even more. It is at that point that Aldorae's Mother saw in her daughter a voracious appetite of knowledge for knowledge's sake. She was both proud and fearful at this revelation. Aldorae either occupied the divine and serene temples of Elune, the magical and well-appointed campus of Nar'thalas, or her humble home with her family in the Suramarian countryside. The next few centuries of Aldorae's life teetered on the tip of a pin. Aldorae continued her worship and grew in her faith toward Elune and the Sisterhood; she also practiced the Arcane with great care and desired, on an almost compulsive level, technical mastery of hand-gestures, mental-casting, spoken incantations, and intimate knowledge of how the Arcane flowed through her body and the world around her. Unfortunately, in both magical theory and magical practice, this put her behind in terms of advancement and earned her the admonishment of her instructors and unwelcome attitudes from her peers. Aldorae did not care much; truthfully she adored the company of musty tomes, the words of far-flung spellweavers, and the wisdom of those who learned magic at its beginning. Aldorae found a kinship in those mages with obscure skillsets and more esoteric techniques simply because it was different and something new to learn, possibly to apply later. In truth there were many times that this young and vibrant Kaldorei capably corrected incorrect modes of thinking or revealed more efficient uses of magic to others- there were widely taught techniques for a reason- but sometimes, in a stroke of mysterious luck, she came across something truly interesting. One such interest was the binding of one's spirit to a specific magical function. To allow the energies of one's own self govern a specific family or school of magic, to put it plainly. Aldorae learned that incorrectly applying, or unweaving, the spell can have disastrous consequences; a stark lesson she learns later. In meantime Aldorae spent years away from the academies of Nar'thalas and her home near Suramar studying this magic and applying it in numerous ways. Aldorae spent close to a thousand years of her life solely in the pursuit of magical perfection and turning her practice of the Arcane into an obscure artform- at least in her own eyes. This intimate exposure to the arcane led her to finally put her thoughts to paper. A Short Professional Career "The Sentient and Mindful Nature of the Arcane" Not the first attempt at a grand unifying theory of magic, not the last, and not one that was popular among the vainglorious Highborne scholars in Zin-Azshari or even Suramar. At its core it outlines the relationship that mages have with magic and contra-positively the relationship that magic has with mages. Those born with magical potential- however grand or miniscule- is how the Arcane interacts with the world and vice-versa. Within its pages Aldorae poured all of the knowledge that she obtained over her long years as she studied and understood the Arcane through her own experiences; as always with the careful consideration that her mother instilled in her. This was, as mentioned previously, not received well by the general magical populous of the Kaldorei Empire simply because it implied a symbiotic relationship whereas most mages at that time believed that the Arcane was something that should be commanded outright. The power was respected, surely, but not in the way this lowborne scholar suggested it should be. In truth Aldorae was as close to a grand unifying theory as most others were and would be, which is a nice way of saying "not at all", as none are correct in their entirety. It should also be noted that as Aldorae grew and developed her magical talents her own views about the mutual relationship between magic and mage grew more blurry. Yes, it is a power that deserves your respect, lest it disintegrate you; but it is also a power that must be wielded without fear and with a clear understanding of a mage's own limits. No rumors would exist that such an early, and specific, publication of Arcane theory would still be around in the present day. All who would have known about it are likely dead or the memory is too faded to remember, though Aldorae still has her original manuscript. "The Principles of Geomancy and the Subjugation of Elemental Forces" This was a collaborative piece that features Aldorae Starseeker's name as a contributor among many other ancient scholars. While the entire tome covers various elemental manipulations, through the powers of the Arcane, Aldorae is one of the few contributors to have penned commentary and technical skills for a majority of the Hydromancy section. Within is a detailed account of the magical binding spells that allow for easy manipulation of water-based liquids and their various applications through freezing, boiling, and everything in between. Aldorae does not have a copy of this tome, though she loathes it, she considers its works as considered lost to the ages; though a few copies may still exist. In truth there now exist many different tomes on the principles of Geomancy or its respective elemental schools and even still there does exist a tome penned by Archmage Antonidas concerning the magical subjugation of Elementals- though the latter is contained within a restricted section of Dalaran's most powerful spelltomes. "Magia Praesidium" This tome is possibly one of Aldorae's most known works, even in the present-day, in that she has recreated the same collection of knowledge many times throughout the ages. It is an ever-growing compendium of spells, incantations, rituals, enchantments, and wards that all focus around one very over-arching school of magic; Abjuration. Be it physical, elemental, magical, extra-dimensional, or chronomagical (though this came later in her life), this collection of protective works made it into a few thousand homes of the Kaldorei Empire before its inevitable fall- earning Aldorae a small bit of prestige and wealth for just a few fleeting years. Mages of the Kirin Tor may find this tome among the various libraries available to them in the magical city of Dalaran. Mages of different circles may yet still find it in the libraries of their own faction though it is not a tome in wide circulation. Category:Characters Category:Night Elf